Plea deal accepted for man charged in brutal assault of girlfriend in Wolfeboro

Wednesday

Nov 7, 2012 at 12:58 PMNov 7, 2012 at 1:06 PM

By Samantha Allen sallen@fosters.com

WOLFEBORO — A man charged with attempted murder after a brutal assault on his girlfriend earlier this year has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half to 20 years in state prison, for various assault charges, according to the Carroll County Attorney's office.

David Connor Ford, 31, whose last known address was 15 Zaleda Farm Lane in Tuftonboro, was initially arrested on a slew of crimes, including attempted murder, on April 25. An associate with the county attorney's office reported Ford was willing to enter a guilty plea through negotiations if the attempted murder charge would be dropped.

Ford's final charges linked to the seven-and-a-half to 20 year sentencing are two counts of first-degree assault, three counts of second-degree assault and criminal restraint, which are all felonies. He will serve his sentence in the New Hampshire Department of Corrections for Men in Concord.

Wolfeboro police arrested Ford after he attacked his 28-year-old girlfriend on April 24. That night the two went behind the victim's family's home on Middleton Road before getting into a verbal argument. Ford then punched her in the face with his fists and a rock, about 10 times, according to reports, attempted to strangle her, and held her down into an active fire pit. The victim received several injuries, including a nasal fracture, a right orbital head fracture and second-degree burns on her arm.

In court proceedings in various pretrial conference hearings, the prosecution alleged Ford was highly intoxicated at the time of the incident, and said he has a known criminal history linked to his alcohol consumption.

Ford, according to court documents, told police he was “black out” drunk on the night of the incident, and walked to Huggins Hospital for treatment for some minor injuries before returning home. He was later arrested, without incident, the following day in a nearby community after one of the victim's family members reported the matter.

Victim Witness Program Director Melissa Smith with the county attorney's office said the victim is still suffering today, now almost seven months after that night. She has yet to fully recover from her injuries. Smith said she believes the victim is comforted now though, knowing a plea bargain was accepted, adding she is grateful the matter did not go to trial.

“I think I can tell you that the victim was aware of (the sentencing) and with everything that was out there, the pending trial,” she said, “… I think we all felt that this was in everybody's best interest. The punitive sanction was good. It spared her the ordeal of reliving that horrible night in a trial.”

Smith said she heard the Wolfeboro Police Department was also grateful to hear the plea was accepted, at a hearing on Nov. 2 before Carroll County Superior Court.

According to police, Ford kept his girlfriend from leaving when the fight ensued in April and verbally threatened her, saying he would kill her, throw her into the backyard fire and cut off some parts of her body. Those words accounted for a criminal threatening charge against Ford. An initial criminal trespass charge also stemmed from the suspect following the victim into her family's home on Middleton Road, according to court documents.

Smith said her job is to keep victims of crimes aware of the judicial process and she believes now, a closure process may begin for the traumatized woman.

“It will let her move forward and away from it and not have to keep living it,” Smith said, noting there was a willingness on Ford's part to plead guilty.

She said the negotiations had been ongoing for some time.

“It was just a matter of trying to come up with the number of years that (the victim), and this office, could live with.”